Soledad Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Hi all, got my Mayones BE4 fretless out the other day, after many months of only playing the Fenders. I have a Jazz fretless with EB Cobalts on it, so the Mayones is there to do the more 'organic, woody, acoustic-ish'... how to describe a sound. Anyway, nylon flats. SO, had a set of LaBella white nylon (50-105) which I really like but they are really low tension and I might want the sound that comes from a bit more tension, not loads more. tbh, just fancy a change of sound/feel but definitely nylons given the Jazz is bearing metalwork anyway. Here's a pic of the thing, and I know Mayones get some mixed press (particularly in the area of customer relations) but these earlier basses are so very nicely built even down to a hand-carved solid ovangkol cover plate, and a sublime ebony board. Anyway. Strings? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 The obvious switch is to the standard guage white nylons by La Bella. They are higher tension, but not by much. Other than that, I would say d'Addario nylon flats are higher tension than La Bella, but not so sure about other brands. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 On 04/04/2020 at 07:55, Soledad said: Hi all, got my Mayones BE4 fretless out the other day, after many months of only playing the Fenders. I have a Jazz fretless with EB Cobalts on it, so the Mayones is there to do the more 'organic, woody, acoustic-ish'... how to describe a sound. Anyway, nylon flats. SO, had a set of LaBella white nylon (50-105) which I really like but they are really low tension and I might want the sound that comes from a bit more tension, not loads more. tbh, just fancy a change of sound/feel but definitely nylons given the Jazz is bearing metalwork anyway. Here's a pic of the thing, and I know Mayones get some mixed press (particularly in the area of customer relations) but these earlier basses are so very nicely built even down to a hand-carved solid ovangkol cover plate, and a sublime ebony board. Anyway. Strings? On fretless I really like the D'Addario black nylons. They're darker than the Labella Whites that you're using and higher tension too, but pretty flexible and nice to play. When I want to go really 'woody', I choose Rotosound TruBass, they're the closest to an acoustic bass sound although as far as I recall their gauge was a little thicker than most and I had to slightly widen the E string slot on my bass. I would try the D'Addario first, they can do woody but also retain enough top end (not as much as the white nylons 'though, which are rounds covered with nylon). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 On 04/04/2020 at 08:31, franzbassist said: The obvious switch is to the standard guage white nylons by La Bella. They are higher tension, but not by much. Other than that, I would say d'Addario nylon flats are higher tension than La Bella, but not so sure about other brands. True, one step higher in gauge might be the thing, if you really want to keep that sound. Don't be afraid by the nominal gauge, they're still very very flexible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soledad Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 12 hours ago, mcnach said: On fretless I really like the D'Addario black nylons. Thanks mcnach - I didn't say but I think I'm fancying a change of sound. The LaBellas are almost new and would easily keep to go back on later anyway. I think I may try the D'Addarios - i'll have a look at gauges,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Soledad said: Thanks mcnach - I didn't say but I think I'm fancying a change of sound. The LaBellas are almost new and would easily keep to go back on later anyway. I think I may try the D'Addarios - i'll have a look at gauges,,, If you fancy something different then the D'Addario, for sure. I have an ETB92 set (50-105) which I find very comfy (flexible, but not quite as much as similar gauge white nylons). I have a couple of sets of white nylons, the standard ones and the copper ones, that I would use on a bass for a while, then remove etc. I was concerned that the nylon coating would degrade but it seems to be pretty durable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 4 minutes ago, mcnach said: I was concerned that the nylon coating would degrade but it seems to be pretty durable. I've had the same set of La Bella white nylons on my fretless for three years, and they haven't worn at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 5 minutes ago, franzbassist said: I've had the same set of La Bella white nylons on my fretless for three years, and they haven't worn at all. I mean with the repeated taking them off, and back on again, that I do with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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